Game 29: Portland Trailblazers (9-19) vs. Dallas Mavericks (18-10) | 7:30pm CST

[Chicagojk]

Haven't been able to watch the game, did something happen with Naji? He's only had 4 mins so far according to ESPN app

It was a little odd.   I think Kidd was trying different things.  For instance, I think he made a conscious decision to give Maxi extended run to see if he could gain any confidence on offense.  In the first half, he had a pretty long run.  He may wanted to see other things as well, so this is why Marshall didn't get a ton of minutes.  It brings up an interesting discussion though, how Marshall and Grimes are playing they absolutely deserve minutes.   I think Dinwiddie may be included in this as well with his recent play and Kidd's trust in him.   Minutes are very tight and someone is going to be disappointed.   I would like to see Marshall get some backup 4 minutes.  I didn't like when I saw it earlier in the year, but that was during our bad play.    If he doesn't play backup 4, I am not sure how you keep everyone healthy.  

Other notes:

Is it real?  I said since we traded for PJ, that if he can become a 36% three point shooter he is going to be one of the better non elite 3 and D in the league.   He was shooting around 32% most of his time here.  With a recent hot shooting, he is at 39%.   How awesome if that was real?

Lively had a quiet game scoring, but in the first half he had a beautiful floater from Kyrie from around 8-10 feet out.  It looked so confident.   When we drafted him, I wasn't sure if he would ever have this shot.   Much less than a 20 year old.  Props to him for working on this.   This shot could be a game changer in time.   

Man, I don't wish anything for Portland fans needing to deal with the downs of a bad team.   They are so far off and some youngsters look good at times and at other times they look rough.  Tough to see a former #2 pick get mop up minutes and not even stand out there.   Scoot has had some moments but clearly has not hit yet.   I love Sharpe, but it is weird.   He feels like he disappears too much.   Klingan is huge and I think he is going to be good.  The recent knee injury for a guy so big though is a little concerning.    Ayton puts up stats but it is just empty calories mostly.  I think we reached the point that him and Grant are just going through the motions.